little as punishment for ruining the deal she’d made with Felicity.”
There was a jaunty series of raps on the door, and Piper peeked out. “It’s Meadow,” she said with a sigh of relief, as if instead there might have been a crazed, note-leaving killer lurking on the porch.
Meadow wore a rainbow-colored housecoat over purple-and-yellow plaid pajama bottoms, and her eyes were huge behind her red glasses. “What’s happening? I heard sirens a little while ago and then I saw Piper walking over. Kinda early for a visit, isn’t it? Is something wrong? Ramsay was patrolling all night, but I was expecting him home for an early breakfast. When he didn’t show up, I phoned him, and he said he had a new case to work.”
Beatrice was proud of herself for not pointing out that Meadow herself was out visiting at seven a.m. Instead she and Piper filled Meadow in on the recent events. Meadow alternately gasped and cried out in dismay throughout the retelling.
“It’s karma,” she said, sitting back in her chair and waving her hands around in the air to simulate cosmic order, or perhaps disorder. “What goes around comes around. Judith’s wickedness finally caught up with her. But it’s still so hard to take in since she was just as alive and mean as anything mere hours ago. So we were all arguing heatedly with her one minute at the quilting bee, and then a few hours later she’s dead as a doornail. Could it have been some sort of an accident? Maybe Judith just fell and knocked her head. Or maybe she had some kind of medical problem and keeled over.”
Beatrice thought of Judith’s unusual sprawl, her lifeless eyes and the blood covering the ground around her. “There wouldn’t have been that much head trauma from a mere fall. It looked to me like she’d been struck hard by a heavy object.” She shook her head. There was no way Judith’s death could have been natural. “I’m sure Ramsay will be talking to some of the quilting group from last night,” she said. “Considering we were probably the last people to see her alive—and were arguing with her.”
Meadow looked concerned. “Especially Amber.” She shifted uneasily in her chair. “And I was the one who wanted to throw Judith out for being disruptive. Oh, and then she was ugly to Savannah and Georgia, making some sort of nasty inference about Savannah. And Posy! She was threatening to close the Patchwork Cottage. Oh, heavens. Posy and Amber will look the most suspicious, for sure.”
Piper mused, “This will be really rough on them.”
Meadow was thoughtful. “Daisy has never gotten along with Judith, for that matter. They squabbled all the time. And Judith was trying to insinuate something ugly about Daisy, too, as I recall. Something about Daisy not being what she seemed.” She turned to Beatrice. “Did you meet Daisy last night? She’s the doctor’s wife. She and Judith always butt heads because Daisy has really put a lot of time into her quilting and is making the rounds to all the regional shows. Judith was always really jealous of Daisy’s talent and all her blue ribbons. Judith always wanted to be the best at
everything.
Maybe Daisy murdered Judith before Judith could murder
her
.”
Meadow suddenly looked even more uncomfortable, then saw Beatrice staring at her and plastered on a fake smile. Beatrice’s eyes narrowed a little. “Meadow, was there something else that you’ve thought of?”
Meadow made a noise like a balloon deflating. She shrugged. “You mentioned a hard object. It just made me remember something. I saw Posy.” Meadow opened her mouth again, then snapped it shut.
“
Posy?
What was she doing?”
“I don’t really remember,” said Meadow slowly. When Beatrice made a scoffing noise, Meadow raised her eyebrows and said, “No, I really
don’t
remember. The main thing was that she was returning Boris to me. You know how my sweet Boris loves going on adventures. He had run off and Posy had found him while she
There was a jaunty series of raps on the door, and Piper peeked out. “It’s Meadow,” she said with a sigh of relief, as if instead there might have been a crazed, note-leaving killer lurking on the porch.
Meadow wore a rainbow-colored housecoat over purple-and-yellow plaid pajama bottoms, and her eyes were huge behind her red glasses. “What’s happening? I heard sirens a little while ago and then I saw Piper walking over. Kinda early for a visit, isn’t it? Is something wrong? Ramsay was patrolling all night, but I was expecting him home for an early breakfast. When he didn’t show up, I phoned him, and he said he had a new case to work.”
Beatrice was proud of herself for not pointing out that Meadow herself was out visiting at seven a.m. Instead she and Piper filled Meadow in on the recent events. Meadow alternately gasped and cried out in dismay throughout the retelling.
“It’s karma,” she said, sitting back in her chair and waving her hands around in the air to simulate cosmic order, or perhaps disorder. “What goes around comes around. Judith’s wickedness finally caught up with her. But it’s still so hard to take in since she was just as alive and mean as anything mere hours ago. So we were all arguing heatedly with her one minute at the quilting bee, and then a few hours later she’s dead as a doornail. Could it have been some sort of an accident? Maybe Judith just fell and knocked her head. Or maybe she had some kind of medical problem and keeled over.”
Beatrice thought of Judith’s unusual sprawl, her lifeless eyes and the blood covering the ground around her. “There wouldn’t have been that much head trauma from a mere fall. It looked to me like she’d been struck hard by a heavy object.” She shook her head. There was no way Judith’s death could have been natural. “I’m sure Ramsay will be talking to some of the quilting group from last night,” she said. “Considering we were probably the last people to see her alive—and were arguing with her.”
Meadow looked concerned. “Especially Amber.” She shifted uneasily in her chair. “And I was the one who wanted to throw Judith out for being disruptive. Oh, and then she was ugly to Savannah and Georgia, making some sort of nasty inference about Savannah. And Posy! She was threatening to close the Patchwork Cottage. Oh, heavens. Posy and Amber will look the most suspicious, for sure.”
Piper mused, “This will be really rough on them.”
Meadow was thoughtful. “Daisy has never gotten along with Judith, for that matter. They squabbled all the time. And Judith was trying to insinuate something ugly about Daisy, too, as I recall. Something about Daisy not being what she seemed.” She turned to Beatrice. “Did you meet Daisy last night? She’s the doctor’s wife. She and Judith always butt heads because Daisy has really put a lot of time into her quilting and is making the rounds to all the regional shows. Judith was always really jealous of Daisy’s talent and all her blue ribbons. Judith always wanted to be the best at
everything.
Maybe Daisy murdered Judith before Judith could murder
her
.”
Meadow suddenly looked even more uncomfortable, then saw Beatrice staring at her and plastered on a fake smile. Beatrice’s eyes narrowed a little. “Meadow, was there something else that you’ve thought of?”
Meadow made a noise like a balloon deflating. She shrugged. “You mentioned a hard object. It just made me remember something. I saw Posy.” Meadow opened her mouth again, then snapped it shut.
“
Posy?
What was she doing?”
“I don’t really remember,” said Meadow slowly. When Beatrice made a scoffing noise, Meadow raised her eyebrows and said, “No, I really
don’t
remember. The main thing was that she was returning Boris to me. You know how my sweet Boris loves going on adventures. He had run off and Posy had found him while she
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